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  4. Document 632

Executive Agreement Series No. 27

841 D. 8561/5

The American Chargé in the Irish Free State (Denby) to the Minister for External Affairs of the Irish Free State (McGilligan)

Dublin, September 21, 1931.
No. 380

Your Excellency: I have the honor to refer to the note of March 10, 1931,1 in which Your Excellency was so good as to apprize the Legation of the willingness of the Government of the Irish Free State to enter into negotiations for a reciprocal load line agreement with the Government of the United States of America.

Under instructions from my Government to whom the matter was at once referred, I beg to inform Your Excellency that the competent American authorities have examined the load line regulations in force in the Irish Free State and that the said American authorities found these regulations to be as effective as the United States load line regulations.

My Government accordingly is prepared to agree that, pending the coming into force in the United States and in the Irish Free State of the International Load Line Convention signed in London on July 5, 1930,2 the competent authorities of the Governments of the United States and the Irish Free State, respectively, will recognize as equivalent the load line marks and the certificate of such marking of merchant vessels of the other country made pursuant to the regulations in force in the respective countries: provided, that the load line marks are in accordance with the load line certificates; that the hull and superstructures of the vessel certificated have not been so materially altered since the issuance of the certificate as to effect the calculations on which the load line was based, and that alterations have not been made so that the—

(1)
Protection of Openings,
(2)
Guard Rails,
(3)
Freeing Ports,
(4)
Means of Access to Crews Quarters,

have made the vessel manifestly unfit to proceed to sea without danger to human life.

[Page 613]

Let me add that it will be understood by my Government that, on the receipt by the Legation of a note from Your Excellency expressing the concurrence of the Government of the Irish Free State in the agreement and understanding as above set forth, the reciprocal agreement will be regarded as having become effective.

I avail myself [etc.]

James Orr Denby
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. Foreign Relations, 1930, vol. i, p. 261.↩